Pattern-printing machinery.



PATENTED AUG. 16,1904.

0. L.; BURDIGK. PATTERN PRINTING'MAGHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1903.

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AITurneg PATENTBD AUG. 16, 1904.

c. L. 'BURDIGK. PATTERN PRINTING MACHINERY.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8, 1903.

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, 1'nven1'ur Charles L-EUI'fliEK Wifnesses QMUL Attorney PATENTED AUG.16, 1904. c. L. BURDIGK.

PATTERN PRINTING MAGHINERY.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 8. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

PATTERN-PRINTING"MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,684, datedAugust'ifi, 1904.

Application filed July 8, 190 3. Serial No. 164,631. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LCHARLEs LAWRENCE BURDIGK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex,

England, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement inPattern-Printing Machinery, (Case No. 2,) of which the following is afull, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

invention relates topattern-printing machinery, and particularlymachinery designed to repeatedly print patterns upon fabrics such aswall-paper, cloth, or the like; and the object of my invention is toprovide improved and moreefficient construction and operation fortlie-'essential*parts of such machines. I The improved machine of myinvention is s'i'ibstantially'of a like construction as the machinedescribed in my copending application, SerialNo,97,960, filed March 12,1902; and the inven ztion'has for its particular ends improved meapisfor electromagnetically operating the spr,ayers, improved means foraccomplishin; a better and more even distribution of the cdforing-matterupon the fabric, and more efflcient and economical means for removingsurplus coloring-matter from the stencil.

The machine consists, primarily, of a stencil in the shape of a drummounted between end plates or disks having a hollow central portion ofslightly less diameter than the diameter of the stencil-drum. Thesprayers are suitably mounted Within said drum to apply coloringmatterthrough the openings of the stencil to the fabric, which is passedbetween the exterior of the stencil and an endless belt, as described inthe copending application above referred to. The drum is driven by thecombined efforts of this endless belt and supporting-wheels mountedbelow the disks to engage the lower edge thereof, these wheels beingdriven in unison with the endless belt.

I provide novel means for electromagnetically and automaticallyoperating the sprayers at determined intervals suitable to the patternemployed, and to this end I associate with the valve-spindles of thesprayers an armature actuated by electromagnet-coils included inelectric circuits. Contact-pieces are mounted upon the outside of thedisks to be engaged by contact-fingers to close circuits through saidelectromagnets to operate the valve-spindles. Provision isfalso made tooperate these valvespindles manually by means of hand-levers, and thevalves may be set to allow a certain amount of coloring-matter to bedischarged, the electromagnets on closure of the circuits therethroughcausing increased opening of the valves to "allow increasedcoloringmatter.to be discharged, or the electromagnetic means may beemployed to open the valves from a closed position.

Heretofore nozzles of sprayers have been designed to emit circularsprays, and where several of such sprayers were disposed side by sidethe effect of the sprays upon each other tended to flatten them, so thatthe contour of the coloring-matter discharged upon the fabric waselliptical, the long axes of these ellipses extending in the directionof travel of the stencil. This manner of applying the coloringmattercaused the tint to be dark at the central portions of the ellipticdischarges and lighter toward the edges thereof, the effect as a Wholeupon the fabric being regions of darker and lighter tints, it being verydifficult to obtain a uniform tint. To overcome this difficulty, I soconstruct the nozzles of the sprayers that the spray emitted thereby isof elliptical contour in a direction transverse to the direction oftravel of the stencil. The effect of the sprays upon each other wherethe sprayers are in horizontal alinement is thus counteracted. I alsoprefer to use two or more horizontal rows of sprayers, the brushes beingdisposed in alternate series, the lack of coloring-matter on the fabricbetween the sprayers of the first row being thus compensated for by thealternately-disposed sprayers in the succeeding rows, whereby a uniformtint is obtained. In devices of this class in the priorart there hasbeen'considerable waste of coloring-matter which adhered to the stenciland which was not utilized for printing purposes, this surplus coloringmatter having heretofore been absorbed as, for instance, by means of aroll of absorbent material-or the surplus coloring-matter has been driedon the stencil by means of hot air or like means. This manner of dryingthe surplus coloring-matter not only caused considerable waste, but thedried length of the stencil.

coloring-matter thus accumulated on the stencil interfered with theproper operation thereof. I therefore provide means for entirelyremoving from the stencil all superfluous or surplus coloring-matter bymeans of an improved suction device. This device consists of apipeconnected with an exhausting source, and a tube, which may be offlexible mate rial, extends from this pipe across the entire Theinterior of this tllbO y b led with absorbent material, such as felt,the end of this material projecting from the end of the tube in contactwith the interior of the stencil. All surplus coloring-matter comingunder the tube or in contact with this absorbent material is carriedinto the suction-pipe to be deposite in a receiving-chamber, thecoloring-matter thus gathered being again utilized, and thus waste,

thereof is entirely prevented.

My invention will be more clearly understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of amachine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View of the machine.Fig. 3 is a detail view of an electromagnetically operated air-brush.Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section view of the suctiondevice. Fig. 6 is a front view of the suction device.

Like reference characters indicate like parts of the machine throughoutthe figures.

A stencil-drum 1 is mounted between the end disks or rings 2 2, saiddisks having central openings 3 3 of a diameter less than the diameterof the stencil-drum. An endless belt 4 passes over belt-wheels 5 5,mounted in pedestals 6 6, so that a portion of the under surface of thestencil-drum is engaged by said belt. A feed-drum 7, carrying the fabricf to be printed, is disposed with respect to said endless belt so thatthe fabric may pass over the top of the endless belt and between saidbelt and the under side of the stencil-drum to be gathered by anintake-drum 8, disposed at the other side of the machine.Supportingwheels 9 9, mounted in standards 10 10, are disposed to engagethe lower edge of the disks .2 2 and serve, in conjunction with theendless belt, to cause rotation of the drum. A shaft 11, carrying one ofsaid supporting-wheels, may be driven from some suitable source, and abelt 11 may connect the wheels supporting each disk. shaft 11 to drivethe endless belt 4, and another belt 13 may drive the intake-drum 8, asbest shown in Fig. 1. The fabric f to be printed thus passes below thestencil to be repeatedly printed with a suitable pattern.

Electromagnetically-operated sprayers 14 14 are mounted upon feed-pipes15 15, these pipes being placed one back of the other and extendingthrough the interior of the drum parallel to the axis, and the sprayersare mounted thereon to be alternately disposed.

A belt 12 may be driven from.

The sprayers are adapted for vertical adjustment by means of telescopingstandards 16 16 and for angular adjustment by means of rotatableconnections of the pipes with the bearings 17 17 at the upper ends ofsaid telescopingstandards. Reservoirs 18 18 contain the coloring-matterto be supplied to the sprayers. The pipes 15 15 are provided with twotubular chambers or bores, the coloring-matter preferably passingthrough the inner tube to the sprayer, and compressed air, which may beadmitted through pipes 19 19, preferably passes through the outer tubeto the sprayer. Figs. 3 and 4 show a detail construction of theelectromagnetically operated sprayers, each nozzle of the sprayerscomprising an exterior casing 20, having its lower end pointed andapertured, and an interior casing 21, arranged within the casing 20, achamber 22 being disposed between the two casings. For controlling theaperture of the inner casing 21 a spindle 23 is provided, which isadapted to extend into the aperture at the point of the casing 21 tocontrol. the outflow of coloringmatter and to extendupwardly and out ofthe upper end of the casing, the upper end thereof being threaded andprovided with a nut 24. A spring 25 is arranged about the upper portionof said spindle, being confined between the-upper wall of the casing 20and a disk 26 on the spindle 23, the tendency of'said spring being tocause said spindle to close the aperture from which the coloring-matteris to flow. Adjacent to the casing 20 is aa casing 27, having a chamber28 communicating with the chamber 22 through a port or passageway 29. Achamber 30 is disposed above chamber 28, a port-opening 31 connectingthe two chambers. vA spindle'32, carrying a seatvalve 33, is arrangedwithin the chambers and extends through the upper wall of casing 27, theupper end of the spindle being threaded" and supplied with'a nut 34. Aspring 35 is interposed between the seat-valve 33 and the upper wall ofthe casing 27, said spring tending to retain said valve in its seat toclose the opening 31. The coloring-matter flows from the reservoirthrough the inner bore 36 of the pipes 15 and into the interior of theeasing 21. The compressed air coming through the outer bore 37 of thepipes 15 passes through a passage-way 38 and to chamber 30. A Y-shapedframe 39, carrying a yoke-piece 40 between its upper ends, is secured tothe top of the sprayer by means of screws 41 41, and electromagneticcoils 42 42 extend downwardly from the yoke-piece 40. The armature 43for the electromagnet is provided with a U-shaped frame 44, extendingdownwardly therefrom, the lower member 45 of said U- shaped frame beingprovided with apertures 46 46, through which the sprayer-spindles mayfreely pass,the upper ends ofthese spindles being screwed into lugs 4747, secured to the under side of the armature. he ad justing-nuts N R Iupper part of the sprayers.

24 and 34 engage the threaded ends of the spindles between said lugs andthe lower member 45 of the U-shaped frame and can be so adjusted thatupon attraction of the armature the coloring-matter outlet 48 andthecompressed-air valve 33 may be opened from a closed position, or theymay be so adjusted that these valves are opened a distance, attractionof the armature causing increased opening, whereby increasedcolori'ng-matter and increased air are allowed to flow. The valves mayalso be manually adjusted by means of a hand-lever 50, pivoted at 51 toan extension 52 at the A stationary rod 53 is slidably engaged by ablock 54, which may be secured to said rod in any position by aset-screw 55. Link-pieces 56 56 are provided at their upper end withslots 57 57, en-

gaging pivots 58 58, secured to the'block 54,

the lower end of said links being pivotally connected to projections 5959 at the upper end of the sprayers. A rod 60 bridges between thelink-pieces and is engaged by the hand-lever 50. Thus upon longitudinaladj ustment of the block 5 along the rod 53 the end of the hand-lever iseither raised or lowered to cause resulting opening or closure of thevalves.

The spray emitted from a sprayer as thus far described will be circular,and where sevcral such sprayers are placed side by side the effect ofthe sprays upon each other is to flatten the sprays. Such sprays causethe coloring-matter to be deposited much more thickly in the center thanalong the edges of the regions covered by each spray, and consequentlythe tint is very uneven and by no means uniform. I therefore constructthe points of the sprayers so that the spray emitted is elongated in adirection transverse to the direction of travel of the stencil, thespray thereby covering more breadth, the tendency being to counteractthe mutual effect of the different sprays. I obtain this elongated sprayby cutting slots or grooves 61 61 upon the outside and on opposite sidesof the tip of the casing 21. As the compressed air now flows from theend of the sprayer these slots produce a cross-current,

which carries with it the coloring-matter to form the elongated orelliptical spray. In order to have the spray emitted perfectlyelliptical, it is necessary that the spindle which controls thecolor-flow be centrally located with respect to the outflow-aperture,and I provide guiding-lugs 62 62, extending from the inner Wall ofcasing 21, to form a guideway for the lower part of the spindle.Although this form of spray overcomes to a great degree the defects ofthe circular sprays, there is still difficulty encountered in producinga tint which will be absolutely uniform. I therefore arrange thesprayers alternately in a series of rows. By this alternate arrangementof the sprayers the regions betweenad- 'jacent sprays which have notreceived enough coloring-matter receive the greater part of thecoloring-matter deposited by the alternatelydisposed sprayer in asucceeding row, the deposits of the sprayers thus overlapping andforming as uniform a tint as it is possible to obtain.

To automatically cause inclusion in circuit of electromagnetscontrolling one or more of the sprayers, I provide contact-plates 63 63,contact-fingers 64 64, and contact-springs'65 65, adapted to be includedin circuit with said electromagnets and with a source of power 66 66. Asa support for the contact-plates 63 63 I provide concentric grooves uponthe outside of the drum-disks, the contact-plates being separably andmovably held in said grooves by means of the spreading action ofleafsprings 67 67, secured to the contact-plates,

which'may thus be moved to any position inany of the grooves. Pedestals68 68 support mounting-blocks 69 69, to which the contactsprings 65 aresecured and are insulated therefrom and from each other. Usually aclosed circuit contains all the sprayers in one horizontal line, thesource of powerythe corresponding circuit contact-spring,contact-finger, and contact-plate, the armatures of the electromagnetsthus being raised to open the valves of the sprayers a length of timedepending upon the length of the contact-plate included in circuit. Anyarrangement of sprayers may, however, be included in the same circuit atanytime.

To remove from the stencil any surplus coloring-matter left thereonafter the active section of the stencil has passed beyond the sprayers,I. extend a pipe 70 horizontally across the interior of the drum, whichpipe is connected to some exhaust engine. (Not shown.) A flat tube 71extends along the entire length of the pipe and projects from theinterior of said pipe, the free end 72 thereof being close to the innersurface of the stencil. This tube preferably has rubber sides to enableit to follow the shape of the stencil. The interior of the tube may befilled with some absorbent material 73, such as felt, and as the surpluscoloring-matter is carried under the tube or into contact with this feltat the end of the tube the suction will carry the coloring-matter intothe pipe 70 to be delivered to a receptacle 74, interposed between thepipe 70 and the exhaust-engine, from which receptacle thecoloring-matter may bewithdrawn, to be again utilized for printingpurposes. The pipe 70 may be adjustably supported from a telescopingpedestal 75.

Having thus described my invention, I do not wish to be limited to theprecise construction outlined, but I Wish to secure by Letters Patent 1.In a machine of the class described, the combination with a continuousstencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact with the materialto be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to the stencil, andautomatic means for controlling the amount of application of thecoloring-matter, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil in the shape of a drum, of means for advancing thestencil in contact with the material to be printed, means for applyingcoloring-matter to the interior of the stencil, and automatic means forcontrolling the amount of application of the coloring-matter,substantially as described.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, s prayers for applying coloring-matter tothe stencil, and automatic means for controlling the amount ofcoloring-matter issuing from said sprayers, substantially as described.

4:. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil in the form of a drum, of means for advancing thestencil in contact with the material to be printed,sprayers for applyingcoloring-matter to the interior of the stencil, and automatic means forcontrolling the amount of coloringmatter issuing from said sprayers,substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, and electromagnetic means for controlling the amount ofapplication of the coloring-matter, substantially as described.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, sprayers for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, electromagnetic means for controlling the amount of flow ofcoloring-matter from said sprayers, and automatic means for controllingthe operation of said electromagnetic means, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, sprayers for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, electromagnets for controlling the amount of flow ofcoloring-matter from said sprayers, and automatic means for controllingelectric circuits including said electromagnets, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, a plurality of sprayers for applyingcoloring-matter to the stencil, an electromagnet for each of saidsprayers for controlling the amount of flow of coloring-matter,electrical circuits containing one or more of said electromagnets, andautomatic means for controlling the continuity of said circuits,substantially as described.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, sprayers for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, an electromagnet for each one of said sprayers for operatingthe valves thereof to control the amount of flow of coloring-matter,electric circuits including one or more of said electromagnets,contact-plates and contact-fingers included in said circuits, andautomatic means for bringing said plates in contact with said fingers,substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, a plurality of sprayers for applyingcoloring-matter to the stencil, an electromagnet for each of saidsprayers for operating the Valves thereof to control the amount of flowof coloring-matter, electric circuits including one or more of saidelectromagnets, and automatic means for repeatedly interrupting saidcircuits whereby the valves of said sprayers are repeatedly opened andclosed, substantially as described.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil in the form of a drum, of annular end plates for saiddrum, means for advancing the stencil in contact with the material to beprinted, a plurality of sprayers for applying coloring-matter to theinterior of the stencil, an electromagnet for each of said sprayers foroperating the valves thereof, electrical circuits containing one or moreof said electromagnets, stationary contact-fingers included in saidcircuits, and contact-plates disposed upon the outside of said endplates, said contact-plates upon rotation of said end plates beingengaged by said contact-fingers to repeatedly open and close saidcircuits whereby the electromagnets are operated to repeatedly changethe position of said valves, substantially as described.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil in the form of a drum, of annular end plates for saiddrum, means for advancing the stencil in contact with the material to beprinted, sprayers adapted to apply coloring-matter to the interior ofthe stencil, an electromagnet for each of said sprayers for controllingthe valves thereof, electric circuits each including one or more of saidelectromagnets, concentric grooves disposed upon one face of said endplates, contact-plates movably and separably supported in saidconcentric grooves, a stationary contact-finger included in each of saidcircuits, and a source of current for said circuits, said end platesupon rotation thereof carrying said contact-plates into contact with Icontact-fingers whereby said circuits are repeatedly opened and closedthereby causing said electromagnets to repeatedly increase or decreasethe valve-openings of said sprayers, substantially as described.

13. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil in the shape of adrum, of means for advancing thestencil in contact with the material to be printed, means for applyingcoloring-matter to the stencil, and electromagnetic means forcontrolling the amount of application of the coloring-matter,substantially as described.

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, sprayers for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, electromagnets for controlling the amount of flow ofcoloring-matter from said air-sprayers, electrical circuits includingsaid electromagnets, and automatic means for controlling the time ofclosure of said circuits whereby to controlthe time of application ofthe coloringmatter, substantially as described.

15. In amachine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, a plurality of sprayers for applyingcoloring-matter to said stencil, and a plurality of supply-pipes forsaid sprayers, said brushes being alternately mounted upon saidsupply-pipes whereby said coloring-matter is evenly distributed over thematerial, substantially as described.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of meansfor advancing the. stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, sprayers for applying coloring-matter tosaid material, and a plurality of supply-pipes for said sprayersdisposed in horizontal rows, said sprayers being mounted upon saidsupply-pipes to be alternately disposed whereby said coloringmatter isevenly deposited upon the material, substantially as described.

17. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, and

' suction means for removing surplus coloringmatter from said stencil,substantially as described.

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, a flexible tube engaging said stencil, and means for exhaustingthe air from said tube whereby surplus coloring matter on said stencilis drawn into said tube, substantially as described.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means-for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, a flexible tube extending transversely across said stencil oneopen end thereof engaging said stencil, and suction means associatedwith the other open end of said tube whereby surplus coloring-matter onsaid stencil is withdrawn into said tube, substantially as described.

20. In amachine of the class described, the combination with acontinuous stencil, of means for advancing the stencil in contact withthe material to be printed, means for applying coloring-matter to thestencil, apipe extending transversely across said stencil, a short fiattube extending from said pipe to said stencil, absorbent material withinsaid tube extending from the end of said tube in.

contact with said stencil, means for causing suction through said pipewhereby superfluous coloring-matter is drawn from the stencil throughsaid tube and into said pipe, and a receptacle interposed in said pipefor receiving the superfluous coloring-matter, substantially asdescribed.

21. In amachine of the class described, the

combination with a travelingstencil, of means for maintaining in contactwith said stencil the material to be printed, stationary sprayersfor-applying coloring-matter to said material, and means for causing thebreadth of the spray emitted by said sprayers to be increased in adirection transverse to the direction of travel of the stencil,substantially as described.

22. In a machine of the class described, the combination with atraveling stencil, of means for maintaining the material to be printedin contact with said stencil, sprayers disposed in horizontal rows forapplying coloring-matter to said material, and means for increasing thebreadth of the spray emitted by said sprayers in a direction transverseto the direction of travel of said stencil, substantially as described.

23. In a machine of the class described, the combination with atraveling stencil, of means for maintaining in contact with said stencilmaterial to be printed, sprayers disposed in horizontal succeeding rowsfor applying coloring-matter to the material, and means for causing eachof said sprayers to emit a spray having a greater breadth in a directiontransverse to the direction of travel of the stencil, said sprayersbeing alternately disposed whereby a uniform distribution ofcoloringmatter is obtained, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 22d day of June, A.D.'1903.

' CHARLES LAWRENCE BUItIlICK.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMESON, F. D. RAND.

